Edwards Famly

February 13, 2011

I really struggled with what to post this week because we didn’t really do much. I decided to post pictures of the kids that were taken this week. Joey took the one of Ben dancing and I think Ben took the close up of Joey. I felt like such a hermit this week. I went to church on Sunday and didn’t leave the house again until Thursday. But I didn’t have to go anywhere so I was content staying home. I did go to the pediatrician for Em’s 9 month checkup. No ear infections, who hoo! She is 95-100 % on weight. Who would have guessed? Other than that she is doing well.
I ordered a box online from thredup.com about a week ago. It is a box that is normally $15.95 I got for $1.00. I got all of these outfits used, but they looked brand new when I opened up the box. I am so excited!
Then I had a couple of honey dos for Eric. He added another shelf in my pantry. It is at the top so you can’t see it unless you are right under it. It is perfect for my cereal storage. I love it!
Then he did a remodel of my laundry room. We purchased the upright washer and dryer, which I absolutely love, and then he made cubbies for the kids. I am so excited and I love that he is so talented. I will have to get a picture of Joey actually standing in the cubby to hang up his jacket. It is too cute.
I had to get a picture of Emily and her daddy playing. It was cute.
As far as the video goes, Joey was asked to feed the dog. He spilled the dog food and I caught Emily eating it. So I asked him to clean it up. His way of cleaning it up was yelling for Sadie to eat it and then he proceeded to block the doorway so Emily couldn’t get in. She finally gives up. Hilarious. This week was really slow but this next week will be super busy so I will try and remember to take pictures.

February 6, 2011

Grandma Jill bought this shirt, and we all know she doesn't need a shirt because I know how much she loves her Grandma Jill.

I had to put this picture in because I am amazed how much my little girl loves Einsteins. She sat the entire 20 minutes and watched and she is only 9 months old.

Joey pretending to be a stripling warrior and praying.

Stripling warrior

Stripling warrior, too.

The battle begins (I know the stripling warriors didn't fight each other, but today I guess they do.)

This week was rather uneventful. Other than the kids and myself being sick, not much happened.
Although for me personally my highlight was the great coupon deals I got on Friday. I went to alberstons and did the doublers with coupons. I ended up spending $6.67, I believe, and saving over $96.00 and then that night I went to target and bought lotions, and dishwasher detergent and candy and spent $10.00 and saved $25.00 so I was way excited.
I took Emily to the doctor again to make sure she was getting better and they said she was. I was going to go to the temple with my friend on Thursday morning leaving at 4:45 a.m. Emily decided to get up and play from 1 am to 330 am. I got up at 415 am and I tried to keep myself up but when I couldn’t I decided against going. I felt bad but if I am going to fall asleep during instruction it is probably pointless to go. Unpredicatable babies make it difficult.
I had my interview with BYU academic advising on the phone on Wednesday. I didn’t realize how close together three semesters are. I hadn’t planned on them being only 2 weeks apart so we planned our Disneyland trip the 2nd week of the spring semester. So hopefully they will be o.k. with that. It is discouraging to have it so I have to plan my family life around school but it will be worth the sacrifice, at least that is what Eric says. I hope he remembers that when he is dealing with a crying baby for an hour each time I leave to go to school.
Grandma bought Emily some clothes, this shirt says I love my Grandma. But I know she doesn’t need a shirt to prove that, I already see how much she loves her grandma.
For Sunday the boys acted out the story of the stripling warriors. Joey is pretending to pray in one of the pictures and asking the Lord to protect them. It was cute. Although they wanted to fight each other, so the stripling warriors battled each other for a moment.
Church was horrible today with Joey. I don’t know if he was sick but I hope that was the reason he was horrible. He was horrible the last 20 minutes of sacrament I had to take him out in the hall because he was just crying, and he cried through primary and the sunbeam class. So last hour I made him sit with me in Young Women’s and he fell asleep while I was holding him. One of my friends luckily had Em the entire time this was going on. I am seriously considering not going to church on the days that Eric is gone. It was a pretty good week.

January 30, 2011

This week a lot of different things happened with our family. Monday I had my first root canal. The dentist was finishing up my tooth and told me that it was really hard for him to finish the root canal because the filling next to it needed to be replaced. I asked how much thinking I might be able to afford it at this time. On top of the $200 they wanted another $180 (as I am sure most of you know that insurance covers the dental work but only after you have paid out of your pocket a certain percentage). I told him I couldn’t do the $180 at this time and he said o.k. we will work around it. As he started to work he told me it would be a lot easier if he could replace the filing so he decided to do the filling and not charge me. That was such a blessing for me and I am so grateful that the dentist did that for me.

I went to two Ready for Kindergarten classes this week. I am so glad that they do the classes every quarter because it really motivates me, gives me new ideas and I also love the free toys. One of the ideas I learned was a cute way to teach numbers. Joey really liked it and I think learned a little better. You take the number cards and lay them face down, and turn them over to match. When you make a match you have to run that number (ie: 12 times) back and forth across the room or jump or whatever. However, running for tends to wear them out. It was even fun for me.
I still really enjoy attending my Thursday night classes for the Pathway Program. I feel really guilty leaving the children sometimes. I know that it is a good break but I left the kids with Eric a lot this week because of classes. I really feel more confident since I have started taking the classes.
Then Friday I finally broke down and took Emily to the doctor. She has had no signs of being sick but she was pulling on her ears so I was afraid she had an ear infection. I have been trying so hard to keep her from getting sick and she still ended up with two ear infections. So I guess we will still have to go through with the tubes in her ears. After she went to the doctor she started showing signs of being sick. She is coughing and now has a hoarse voice. It is so sad.

This weekend we just took it easy. We played Beatles Rock Band with Eric’s family. Even the kids were able to play the guitar and drums. Then Sunday we decided to put puzzles together that Jill had bought the boys. They were so excited. It was nice to sit around and have that interaction. It was a nice week.

January 23 2011

Sorry I do not have a lot of pictures this week.

On the January 11th we went back into the Audiologist for Joey and she said his hearing was amazingly in the normal hearing range. She was surprised. We knew it was a blessing. So I am very happy to report that we have no problems with Joey’s ears.

As far as Emily’s ears go Eric and I were praying and we both got the same answer that we needed to hold off. We know that an allergy to anesthesia runs in the family, so whether we got the answer we did was because of that or some other reason we don’t know. But I do know I will listen. I feel strongly that it is due to allergies rather than anything else. I know she is young but Benji was 14 months when they said he hay fever allergies. So I am going to try and dry her out and see if we can solve it that way. If not then we will try again in a couple of months and see if the timing is better then.

The BYU-I pathway program is definetly keeping me busy. I really enjoy doing the class but I am beginning to wonder if I will be able to go to school at BYU-I if I get accepted. I really do like attending a religious college.

Saturday the 15th I took Ben to audition for a commercial. Or so I thought. I got there and it was for a talent agency so I decided to stick around since he had practiced so hard to memorize his part and it was our date time. He got up and did his part perfectly I was so proud of him. On the way home I realized I was grateful that it was just a talent agency because it would require a lot of time from our family if he were to get a part in a commercial. That night they called us and said out of 700 people it had been narrowed down to 40 and Ben was in the top 3 in his age group. She said she was amazed that he was 4 and had memorized his part so well. They wanted to represent him which required him to register on Sunday and to take a class which cost $500.00. Now for some reason all common sense went out the window. I was a talent scout for a talent agency and I basically knew that they were here to sell me their services. I told her I would call her back because I was really excited and considering doing it. So I consulted with Eric and he said he would support any decision I chose, typical answer. So I did the only thing I knew best and I prayed about it and got an answer that I should not do this. Which I wasn’t sure if it was me give myself the answer or an answer from the Lord. So I prayed once again and this time got the answer, are you really going to doubt my first answer. So I prayed one last time for guidance in the way that I could tell them he wouldn’t be able to participate without having them to try and talk me into it. The answer I got was that it was on Sunday. So I was able to use that answer and then teach my son that we don’t participate in activities like this on the Sabbath. He was content.

That Sunday I decided to drive to Spring Creek, NV to spend a couple of days with my family. My poor mom didn’t know I was coming until 3 hours before I showed up but I guess that is better than saying I am coming and not showing up at all, which does happen. So the kids were able to spend sometimes with the cousins, aunts and uncles and grandparents from Nevada. They had a lot of fun. They have been talking about it for days. Poor Ben on Wednesday got a horrible fever and couldn’t do anything. I had to leave town on Thursday so I could go to my class on Thursday night (I can’t miss a class or I will be kicked out of the program), and Ben’s fever was gone but now he felt horrible. He puked multiple times on the way home. At one point we were going through a grocery store and he was hanging onto me because he couldn’t stand up. Emily traveled surprisingly well. I was so happy.

Now Joseph has had two horrible tantrums this week. One started at Costco where he wanted a green cart, but I couldn’t figure out which one so we went inside to go and get our traditional pizza, thinking this would calm him down. Wrong!!! He cried all through the line, then I sat him down and I gave them the pizzas and he freaked out even more. Come to find out I had given Ben the piece that Joey wanted. So for half an hour straight he cried about a green cart and the pizza that he couldn’t have (I didn’t have any more cash and you have to have cash for the pizza) I finally had to leave Costco without shopping. Later that night Eric took the rest of work off and we went to see Harry Potter. It was nice, it was a much wanted and needed date. Then today at church Joey started to wine through sacrament meeting, so we took the water and I grabbed him and went to go into the hall as not to disrupt anyone. I made it worse. I was so embarrassed. I had the baby in one arm and was dragging Joey in the other. I get out in the hallway and about five families saw and burst out laughing. I wanted to but I knew I couldn’t. I was sure the Bishop was going to pull me into his office for being mean to my child. So in trying to keep him quiet in Sacrament I ended up making it worse. Thank goodness to wonderful friends that are so willing to help me out when my husband has to work.

Grandma Jill made the beautiful dress for Emily. I love it. I attempeted to make a headband but it doesn't even compare to the gorgeous dress.

January 9, 2011

Well this week we found out that Emily needs tubes put in her ear's. So on the 19th she will go in for surgery. I am nervous because they have to put her under. We actually went in for an appointment for Joey and they had a cancellation and saw her at the same time. We found that the Joey and Em both have Eustachian tubes that aren't completely developed, which is genetic. However, the doc said that Joey's ears look better than last time and he wants to see what the audiologist has to say on Tuesday. He think thinks that Joey will need a steroid nasal spray to open up his Eustachian tubes. He doesn't think he has enough hearing loss to worry about, if any.

I have done a lot of couponing this week. I am totally bragging but only because I copy this blog to my diary and for no other reason. I got 4 boxes of dish washing detergent for $0.74 each. 6 bottles of Laundry detergent for $0.50 each and 4 bottles of Pantene for a $1.50 each. Spent $11.96 Saved $36.60. I know it doesn't sound like a lot but these are items I buy all the time. So if I were to look at it I made myself $36.60 in 40 minutes of shopping. The fruit snacks were an amazing deal. I paid $0.09 a box for 20 boxes spending $1.80 and saving $48.20. These will last me for 10 months. I had to add the cute picture of the kids. Joey asked me to put Emily in the car with him while we were waiting at customer service.

The kids were having fun playing together on the Edwards Express, even Rose.

Grandma Jill, and Aunt Sara bought the boys dinosaur or crocodile hats (I can never tell the difference). It was cute to see them all running around roaring at each other.

I know I added a lot of videos but like I said it is going in my computer diary. The boys attended a meet a greet your primary teacher. They had a lot of fun. The played a lot of relay games. They had popcorn attached to the shoes with rubber bands and they had to empty them in a box. They built a tower with marshmallows. Which I didn't get on video. They had to run and get plastic eggs open them and then do what the paper in the egg said, situps, pushups, jumping. I find it funny that Joey doesn't know how to do a push up, but the little blond girl, evalilly knows how to do them very well. Hmmm I guess we need a little more muscle in our home, just teasing.

Emily started crawling this week. Well I don't know if you could really call it crawling rather scooting around on her belly really fast. More of an army crawl. She is driving the boys nuts. Are they in for a real sup rise when she is into everything they own in a couple of months when she is walking.

I started college with the Pathway Program for BYU-I onThursday. So far I really like it. I am always like that at first. Gung ho and then half way through I don't know why I even started. I am hoping this is different. A religious school is awesome. I don't know if it is because I am being taught by the spirit more or that it is just an easy class but I am understanding things that I think might be hard for me to grasp otherwise. I don't know I will let you know how I am doing in a couple of weeks.

Eric went back to work on Friday with stitches in his foot. He says it is really painful. He gets his stitches out on Tuesday so hopefully it will help him feel better. Well that was the week as I can remember. Love Kristina

January 2, 2011

This week we had a couple of different activitites. Eric had surgery on his foot to remove a broken sewing needle that he stepped on a couple of years ago. He had a really good doctor. Eric told the doctor that he was going to torment me about this situation for years to come and the doc told me he would show me the spot where he cuts so I can kick it everytime. The surgery went good. It was the first time I have ever seen Eric loopy. I am glad that it went well and that it was fast. Now hopefully the recovery process will go by fast. So far it has been more sore than he could have expected.

Wednesday we celebrated Grandma Jill's Birthday. The kids were really happy to sing to Grandma. Ben even made the upstairs into a "Birthday Party" in which grandma particpated by sitting on chairs that is difficult for anyone to get out of. But she loves her Benji so much that she did it for him.

Emily is working on crawling, I have to add in a cute picture of my little girl. However, I thought she was teething because she has been cranky, along with a cold. I noticed her ears were draining late Friday night so I took her to urgent care and they told me she has a perforated left ear drum. I took her to the Pediatrician today and he suggested that she have tubes put in her ears. Poor baby she can't catch a break.

Eric's best friend Dan, Uncle Dan, has been visiting for a couple of days. He has been a real help since Eric is hobbling around on his injured foot. It is always nice to have Dan visit the boys really like him and Emily lights up when she see's him.

We celebrated New Years Eve at our friends house. They had a family New Years Eve party. It was fun to be able to hang out with new people and the kids were excited to have noise makers.

Joey started Sunbeams on Sunday. He was very excited to be with the big kids but when I tried to leave him he didn't want me to leave. Benji was excited to move up to CTR4. He got his 1st CTR ring. He said he was CTR 4 like he was Battle Force 5 and he wanted to put our rings together and unite. It was rather cute.

Christmas Eve and Christmas 2010

Once again we celebrated Christmas on the 24th of December because of Eric's work schedule. I still liked doing it this way. This was our first Christmas with our daughter Emily. We had christmas eve on the night of December 23rd. The most memorable part of the evening was when we were sitting at Christmas Eve Dinner with Eric, Joey, Ben, Kris, Emily, Jill, Sara, Rose, Riley and Sadie Dog who was hiding under the table; and we were asked to sing a Christmas song. We started singing "Away in a Manager" and Benjamin started conducting us. He told mom to start first, then dad started in. Then we had to stop and Jill and Sara had to sing and then he wanted mom and dad to sing and he said all four sing together. It was so cute. Joey liked serenading everyone with Frosty the Snowman. We then opened Christmas eve presents and the kids enjoyed the time we spent doing that. The next morning mom and dad woke the kids up at 5:30 a.m. and they were excited to see all of the presents. This year we had planned on spending all day opening presents like we did last year. However, this year was different. Ben wanted to open presents, pile them and then go back and play with them. So this is what Joey then decided that he wanted too. So this is what we did. We were finished by 830 am. Emily really enjoyed the wrapping paper mingled with toys. We kind of hung out the rest of the morning and then dad laid down about 1:00 p.m. because he had to work graves that night. It was once again another success. The best part is we didn't spend full price on any of the items. Most of it was bought clearance and coupons. This was a great Christmas and I hope the children will remember it.